Mexico: Street Children in Mexico: In Mexico, one of the biggest problems is the homeless rate. Children are growing up on the streets, and living there their whole lives. A study in 2002 showed that half the Mexican population was homeless, and one fifth in extreme poverty situations.
(http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/LACEXT/MEXICOEXTN/0,,contentMDK:20233967~pagePK:141137~piPK:141127~theSitePK:338397,00.html) Children all over Mexico are homeless, and most are orphans. In a typical family, if there are quite a few children and there is one with learning disabilities, the one with the disablities will most likey end up homeless.( http://www.mexico-child-link.org/street-children.htm) As said on http://www.mexico-child-link.org/street-children.htm "One of my first experiences in Mexico was meeting a teenager with Down's Syndrome living alone on a building site, in a half built house, with four stray dogs for company. He slept on a filthy mattress and used an empty tin can as a cup. He was surviving completely on his own, without any help from local authorities. He survived by begging for food in the Puebla bus station nearby."
Religious Conflict: In Mexico, the Constitution states that everyone has a right to their own religion, and there is a distinct separation between Church and State. In 1992, a Mexican law was passed that prohibited any form of discrimination against people or religious groups. This law was called the Religious Associations and Public Worship Law. This law was followed until late 2005, when a group of people broke off the Catholic Church, and applied for their own legitimate religion. They registered as a branch of Catholic Religion, although they were accepting members who believed in “The Saint of Death” and had accepted the Saint (Santa Muerte) as the group’s primary god.The Director for Religious Affairs of the Federal Secretariat of Government (DAR), who makes the final decision about any religious applications, denied them the ability to be a legal religion, because they had changed the framework of the religion since they had applied. They said that the Santa Muerte group could apply for a new religion, but they would not approve the current registry because it did not follow the Catholic religion, which they had applied under. This was the first denial of religious grouping since the law was passed in 1992. (http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2005/51646.htm)
Canada:
Wine Bottle Labels:
A big debate in Canada is the controversy over wine labels. Winemakers were selling wine whose labels read that the grapes were from Canada and the wines were cellared in Canada, even though they were not. (http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5hmKhCY6EakkRmHLn5XqGVWcLbwjA) “Cellared”, by definition, means “to place or store in a cellar“, according to http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/cellared. Cellared usually means, in modern language, where the wine is kept while fermenting. The winemakers (a total of 3) are located in British Columbia and Ontario. The winemakers are now changing the labels due to all of the backlash from the controversy.(http://www.google.com/hostednews/canadianpress/article/ALeqM5hmKhCY6EakkRmHLn5XqGVWcLbwjA)
http://www.canada-photos.com/data/media/11/grape-vine_3164.jpg
http://popsop.com/wp-content/uploads/plantatree_wine.jpg
United States:
Separation of Church and States:
A big controversy in the United States at the time being (October 2009) is the separation of church and states. The controversy is that a cross (pictures below) was made as a memorial to the fallen heroes of the First World War. (http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/10/07/high-court-takes-case-cross-public-land/?test=latestnews?test=latestnews) Frank Buono, a former National Park Service employee, wanted to put up a Buddhist memorial close by. (http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-10-07-voa44.cfm) When he was denied this privilege, he sued and the case was sent before the Supreme Court of the United States. He is saying that it violates the First Amendment of the Constitution (http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/10/07/high-court-takes-case-cross-public-land/?test=latestnews?test=latestnews) which separates church and the government completely. (http://topics.law.cornell.edu/wex/First_amendment) The case came in front of the Supreme Court on October 7, 2009. (http://www.voanews.com/english/2009-10-07-voa44.cfm) At the time of the finishing of this page, (October 22 2009) the Supreme Court has not made its decision.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_lVvM5tfzc3w/Rp1yL4jogGI/AAAAAAAAAlo/00XAhPU2LIg/s400/Cross%2520with%2520sunrise.jpg
http://www.nps.gov/archive/moja/adminhist/images/fig11.jpg
http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_bHOJKEszlgg/SnDHuGkt2MI/AAAAAAAAADE/9uc9ooHMau4/s400/2007.03.30.0611+Cross+and+sunrise.jpg
Civil War:
The Civil War was a division of the United States of America and war between the top half of the States (The Union) and the bottom half (The Confederate States of America). The war, which lasted from 1861-1865, killed over 97,000 people from both sides of the battle. The reasons for the start of the conflict are still a controversy to this day; although there are many theories. (http://www.factasy.com/civil_war/a_brief_history.shtml)
http://warisboring.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/04/civil-war-002.jpg
Mexico:
Street Children in Mexico:
In Mexico, one of the biggest problems is the homeless rate. Children are growing up on the streets, and living there their whole lives. A study in 2002 showed that half the Mexican population was homeless, and one fifth in extreme poverty situations.
(http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/COUNTRIES/LACEXT/MEXICOEXTN/0,,contentMDK:20233967~pagePK:141137~piPK:141127~theSitePK:338397,00.html) Children all over Mexico are homeless, and most are orphans. In a typical family, if there are quite a few children and there is one with learning disabilities, the one with the disablities will most likey end up homeless.( http://www.mexico-child-link.org/street-children.htm) As said on http://www.mexico-child-link.org/street-children.htm "One of my first experiences in Mexico was meeting a teenager with Down's Syndrome living alone on a building site, in a half built house, with four stray dogs for company. He slept on a filthy mattress and used an empty tin can as a cup. He was surviving completely on his own, without any help from local authorities. He survived by begging for food in the Puebla bus station nearby."
http://z.hubpages.com/u/267675_f260.jpg
http://www.harrythehorse.com/2006/2006images/jun/Homeless.jpg
Religious Conflict:
In Mexico, the Constitution states that everyone has a right to their own religion, and there is a distinct separation between Church and State. In 1992, a Mexican law was passed that prohibited any form of discrimination against people or religious groups. This law was called the Religious Associations and Public Worship Law. This law was followed until late 2005, when a group of people broke off the Catholic Church, and applied for their own legitimate religion. They registered as a branch of Catholic Religion, although they were accepting members who believed in “The Saint of Death” and had accepted the Saint (Santa Muerte) as the group’s primary god. The Director for Religious Affairs of the Federal Secretariat of Government (DAR), who makes the final decision about any religious applications, denied them the ability to be a legal religion, because they had changed the framework of the religion since they had applied. They said that the Santa Muerte group could apply for a new religion, but they would not approve the current registry because it did not follow the Catholic religion, which they had applied under. This was the first denial of religious grouping since the law was passed in 1992. (http://www.state.gov/g/drl/rls/irf/2005/51646.htm)
http://www.ocregister.com/newsimages/breaking_news/2006/03/27protest_group.jpg
http://vivirlatino.com/i/2007/03/programas5-c.jpg